Chapter 14 Episode 14 of The Devil Punisher sees Chung share information with Hsin-Yu, starting with Wu Ching-Yuan having an accomplice. En-Hsi listens in on the conversation, even with Ouyang Kai distracting her, and hears mention of Lu Chi. Hsin-Yu is about to ask questions regarding Lu Chi but they find an injured Fox Spirit. They take her to Chung’s place to remove the malicious spirit aura. Big Boss sent her to pass a message on – that Chung can’t interfere with karma in the human realm. Furthermore, he left a criminal evidence bag behind for Chung. Fox Spirit says scared and going home to recover so she won’t be available to help in future. Chung and Hsin-Yu contemplate why Big Boss would take police evidence. They believe he killed Chia-Chu and therefore ponder whether it’s about covering up Confusion Fluid or possibly something even bigger. Hsin-Yu asks if Big Boss is Lu Chi and Chung confirms it but doesn’t offer much more. He wants to wait until they’ve found the person who sealed her memory to open it. Chung worries to himself that En-Hsi might be next. En-Hsi visits Professor Lu with her thesis and some fresh vegetables. To help with her document, he recommends she contact Wei Yun-Han, the wizard of the IT Department. He also asks her to help out at the café since it’s been busier. Hsiao-Chi and Chung go thru Professor Lu’s schedule and wonder if he’s really that boring. Chung puts a protection spell on En-Hsi just in case. After En-Hsi leaves, Chung makes himself invisible, checking out Professor Lu inside his house. There’s a moment where it seems as though Professor Lu sees him. He leaves thinking perhaps he was overthinking with Professor Lu. Ouyang Kai reports to the café but there are no customers today. En-Hsi proposes asking her IT friend to create an app and says she’ll do the deliveries herself. So they don’t miss the opportunity she suggests she’ll get the tech started and then tell Professor Lu the plan. That evening, En-Hsi heads to meet her tech guy and Hsin-Yu walks to Chung’s house. He isn’t home so she leaves a note. But someone picks it up. Chung and Cheng Huang survey the city. Chung tells him about Fox Spirit’s injury and the message sent by Big Boss. Cheng Huang wonders who is this malicious spirit who dares to remind a god and lands the same conclusion – it must be Lu Chi. Cheng Huang tells the other guardians to be on the lookout. Chung says he believes something big is coming, some kind of conspiracy. Cheng Huang pledges his friendship and assistance to Chung. En-Hsi’s app is ready and she shows it to Hsin-Yu, telling her how she made contact with Wei Yun-Han. Hsin-Yu recognizes his name – Yu-Han’s ex-boyfriend. The orders begin rolling in and En-Hsi delivers. She pauses to check her vial of Confusion Fluid with an evil little smirk. One student with a Slow Train takeaway cup in hand looks for pianist Chen Che-Hsuan in the auditorium, hoping to catch him practicing. She receives a download on her phone while the café app is open and hears the same song on her phone that Che-Hsuan is playing live. Another student receives his order from En-Hsi and after receiving the song, has a breakdown in a store. The news reports a raft of students claiming depression due to pressure. Chung notes a mention of Blissful Tea. Professor Lu visits the first student, Ke-Hsing but she doesn’t respond to him. He makes notes saying there’s evidence of depression. Chung visits the café and En-Hsi tells him about the app. Cheng Lei stops in to tell Hsin-Yu that his friends reacted to the Blissful Tea he’d ordered for them, so Chung picks up the investigation. Ouyang Kai confirms Professor Lu is busy visiting the depressed students. Chung and Hsin-Yu talk about the app and she tells him about Yun-Han and Professor Lu. With Confusion Fluid in mind, Chung plans to investigate. The police officer stops by to ask about Professor Lu as he was at the club where Chia-Chu died. Chung follows after the police officer and puts him in a trance to get an update on the investigation. He tucks the evidence bag left by Big Boss into his hands. Chung invisibly visits the students who have fallen into depression and notes that the music makes them worse. He visits Professor Lu at home to find out the relationship between the students and Confusion Fluid. Professor Lu refuses to share confidential student information and warns him not to interfere. Chung meets Hsiao-Chi to check Professor Lu’s whereabouts when Chia-Chu died but she says he was home all day. Chung warns her to pay closer attention. Professor Lu checks the café computer and notes that data is transmitting. Chung visits Hsin-Yu to update her and they consider all the appearances Professor Lu makes in the case as well as the possibility of En-Hsi’s involvement. There’s an order for 10 cups of Blissful Tea and En-Hsi delivers them to an office. Chung ordered it to follow the trail and as soon as he picks it up, the music plays on his phone. He and Hsin-Yu can smell rafflesia in the tea, indicating Confusion Liquid. En-Hsi must be the pawn of a mastermind who has an understanding of spells. If it’s Professor Lu, why would he do it? They latch onto the idea that the spell is a combination of Confusion Fluid and music infused with negativity. Ouyang Kai and En-Hsi find Chung and Hsin-Yu waiting for them at home. Chung questions En-Hsi about the Fluid in the tea but she doesn’t take it well, storming out angrily. Chung tells Hsin-Yu that Professor Lu could be Lu Chi. Soon after, Hsiao-Chi calls to say Lu Chi has appeared. He attacks Professor Lu but Hsiao-Chi brings him home to safety. Additionally, Chung spots the same malicious spirit aura as with Fox Spirit. Professor Lu says he investigated after their last chat and and thought he was followed, but he couldn’t see the pursuer’s face. The attacker told him to mind his own business or face Big Boss. Afterwards, Chung removes the malicious spirit aura. Chung tells Professor Lu he doesn’t suspect him anymore and shares the music on the café app, explaining how it affects recipients. Professor Lu mentions students receiving the same text invite to an event with Chen Che-Hsuan. Notably, it gathers everyone affected by Confusion Liquid. Professor Lu shows Chung details on a Maoshan Mind-Losing Depression Spell and notes that the spell is hidden within music. Chung, Hsin-Yu and Cheng Huang meet Che-Hsuan at his practice venue where he plays ‘Moonlight Sonata,’ the same song sent by the app. A talisman like the one in Professor Lu’s book is on his piano. They sense En-Hsi approach Che-Hsuan so Chung stops him from playing. He says he’s with Lu Chi and asks Hsin-Yu if she’s forgotten what happened 1000 years ago so Chung puts him out. Cheng Huang says that En-Hsi has malicious spirit aura but suggests Hsin-Yu and Chung take care of the multitudes of students and he’ll look after En-Hsi. Hsin-Yu works on a plan to heal everyone en masse using a small amount of healing liquid and a bamboo forest that emits a yang aura. They gather the affected students plus En-Hsi to the site. Chung Kuei’s proverb: The ultimate reason mortals lose hope is that they have tolerated too much resentment and grievance. The Episode Review Well, everyone is a suspect now. Or lots of them anyway! How did the piano guy, Chen-Hsuan, end up evil without anyone noticing? Professor Lu said he’d just visited him. Well, I imagine in the same way En-Hsi switches from crazy evil to her normal pouty self. The idea of music activating the liquid is pretty cool. The scariest thing is the concept that an app where you put all your information – address, phone number, payment information – could be spouting out something back at you that affects your phone and endangers your identity. And you’ve paid for the pleasure. I mean, if your purpose wasn’t to sell coffee but collect data… well, that’s pretty malicious right there. I’m suddenly scared of my apps! To be honest, it was surprising they checked out En-Hsi as quickly as they did, considering the relationships. Perhaps that’s where Chung’s reputation as cold-hearted is helpful. Chung is starting to trust others with at least limited information – which is a step from no information. But is that the right move? Or maybe he’s leaving just enough rope…(as according to history, he’s a clever guy). And where the heck is Fu, his right-hand man? Isn’t the trial over yet? With Fu back in action, Chung wouldn’t need to work with all these other players to get stuff done. If you’re not interested in potentially spoiler-like thoughts you should stop reading here. If you want to spitball craziness with me, read on and please share your thoughts in the comment section below! Just throwing this out there as I’m reviewing as I watch, not peeking ahead (‘cause that would be lame). In that scene where Chung Huang again pledges his friendship to Chung, didn’t it seem odd that he felt the need to reconfirm it? Now – think this through with me – he’s got access to more information than most. Could he perhaps be an accomplice or the embodiment of Big Boss himself? He’s got a gang of guardians to do his bidding, access to all the human realm CCTV and is privy to Chung’s thoughts as his ‘best friend.’ If you think this a crazy idea, I’m open to alternate imaginings. So, what do you think?
